More than half of mobile broadband users are unhappy with speed

More than half (56.8 percent) of mobile broadband users are unhappy with the speeds they achieve, says Broadband Genie.

Just 100 out of 1,500 surveyed are 'definitely happy'

By
Carrie-Ann Skinner
| 22 Nov 2011

More than half (56.8 percent) of mobile broadband users are unhappy with the speeds they achieve, says Broadband Genie.

Research of 1,500 Brits that have access to mobile broadband revealed just 5.3 percent, which is less than 100, said they were definitely happy with their mobile broadband speed, while 15.8 percent said they thought it was 'OK'.

The remaining 22.1 percent said they were 'unsure' whether they were happy with their mobile broadband speed.

"This is another damning indictment on the state of mobile broadband in the UK," said Broadband Genie editor Chris Marling.

"While home broadband speeds have been racing forward, 3G mobile broadband has stood still – devices that were heralded as 'up to' 7.2Mbps almost five years ago are still often averaging below 2Mbps in reality."

Marling said that because consumers are getting more and more out of their home broadband, they expect that experience to translate when surfing the web on the move. However, thanks to poor reception, frequent drop-outs and slow speeds, it simply isn't even close and they're being left increasingly unhappy.

"To make matters worse, Ofcom is dragging its heels over the 4G spectrum auction that should see things improve dramatically. A date still hasn't been set, let alone one for when it will be handed over. Even optimistic best guesses put the auction in 2012; actual 4G mobile broadband services won't be a reality until 2013," Marling added.

"It's a joke – especially when you consider there were complaints about the auction being put off as far back as early 2010, when the general election got in the way. Back then a government spokesperson said it could reduce the likelihood of the auctions, 'being held this year, or even before mid-2011'. Chance would've been a fine thing!"

Comments

Maccyroo - 20:42 23-11-2011

3G is absolutely dire where I live, although it is a large town in the Kent "commuter belt" when I ran speedtest.net app on my droid the average downstream is between 35 and 45kbps [slower than an old V92 modem!]. In the town centre I got highest download speed measure at 105kbps. It is impossible to even browse the internet with these speeds and they only just mange to keep my widgets updated. Takes over a minute just to load myapps in AndroidMarket on 3G. Even friends in central London say they only get around 1.5 - 2Mbps down.....Why is 3G so crap in the UK???

Condom - 17:43 22-11-2011

There lucky they can even get it. Most of the time I am lucky if I can get Edge from my provider.